Vanilla
by Scotia Daniel
Summary: April stopped laughing when she realized she was the only one cracking up. Donatello stood up and gave her a long look. Great...she blew it. She had worked so hard to earn that smile, and now she blew it.


The ding of the oven shook April out of her thoughts and woke up her senses. The smell of vanilla wafted in the air and tickled her nose. The teenager smiled and inhaled the heavenly scent.

Putting a glove on, April opened the oven and took out the cake she had been slaving over for a few hours now. She let it cool, taking out frosting and a plate for the cake. Once it was cool enough, April set the cake onto the plate and began to decorate it.

Honestly, April wasn't much of a chef. She wasn't horrible at cooking, but left that to her dad and her aunt. But she was quite proud of herself for making the cake. Not only did it smell good, it looked good.

When April was done with frosting the cake, she smiled proudly to herself and picked up the plate. Allowing her feet to guide the way, the red head walk through the living room, past the dojo, the boys' rooms and didn't stop until she came to the entrance of Donatello's laboratory. The teenager shifted the wait of the plate into one hand and used her free fist to knock on the door.

"Go away!" Came an annoyed and muffled voice behind the door. April sighed and opened the door anyways.

"Hey, Donnie. It's me."

The mutant sat at a work bench, hunched over a tad. Normally the scientist would lift his head and spin around in excitement of her being there. But not this time. April hoped that he would but she was let down.

"Oh, hey, April. Can I help you with something?"

April closed the door and walked over to him. The closer she came, the more visible his left arm became. It was in a splint and held close to his plastron. Last week while on patrol, he had taken a hard fall and broke his arm. She and Splinter had to properly set it, but this dampened his mood greatly. Not only is he not allowed to go on missions while his arm is like that, he can barely work on his projects. If he had broken his right arm, it probably would have been easier on the left handed ninja. But fate was cruel and he could barely write down his thoughts or put pieces together without getting completely and utterly frustrated.

The red head closed the gap between them and stood by his side. The turtle didn't look up. He stared down at some blue prints hard. April glanced at them. It was plans to improve the patrol buggies. They had been planning on working on those together that week, but Donnie shut the project down when he realized he couldn't do a whole lot on his own when it came to his side of the work.

When a minute passed and he still hadn't glanced up at her, April coughed into her fist. Nothing. She tapped him on the shoulder. He continued to coldly ignore her. April frowned and stomped her foot.

"Donnie!"

"What?"

The turtle shot his head up, annoyance in his tired eyes. The reddish brown orbs left April's and trailed down to the cake in her hands. His look of anger melted into one of shock and confusion. April could only smile.

"Surprise!"

"W-wha-?"

"It's for you."

"I realize that. But why?"

"Because you refuse to talk to anyone. Even me. I know I'm not the best company, but I hate seeing you like this. I know breaking your arm sucks, Donnie, but it'll heal. Just give it time and rest. I made you this to cheer you up. I wasn't sure if vanilla was okay or not, but I wanted to do SOMETHING."

Donatello stared and, for the first time since he broke his arm, a smile formed on his face. His eyes widened and he relaxed in his chair.

"April, I...I don't know what to say! Thank you! That's so nice!"

The red head grinned and took a step forward, fishing her pockets for utensils and the napkin she had brought.

"What can I say? I just want to see you smile, Don-" April didn't see the tool left laying on the floor. Her foot came in contact with it and she stumbled. She quickly caught her self. She looked at Donatello to crack a joke about her clumsiness but stopped. She snorted and burst out laughing.

Donatello slowly blinked, surprise written all over his face. Part of the cake had smudged into his face. White frosting littered his cheeks and nose and the mutant could only stare with shock.

April stopped laughing when she realized she was the only one cracking up. Donatello stood up and gave her a long look. Great...she blew it. She had worked so hard to earn that smile, and now she blew it.

"Donnie...I am so sorry for laughing I just, I thought...I-"

Donatello took some of the cake in his hand and smashed it into April's face. The teenager stared in shock as the mutant slowly smirked at her. The cake and the frosting slowly slid down her face and she began to grin back.

April took the plate and smashed the cake into his face and ran. Donatello choked out a laugh, grabbed some of the cake and began to chase her, chucking what he could of the cake at her.

They chased one another around the lab, getting cake and frosting everywhere. Soon, they both collapsed on the ground, arm to arm. They heavily breathed and struggled to catch their breath.

Once April was able to breath without gasping, she looked up at her best friend and grinned. She rested her head against his shoulder, not caring if any more cake or frosting got on her or not.

"I'm glad to see you smile again, Donnie. As much as grumpy Donnie was entertaining...I like your old self much better."

She lifted her head to look at him. Donatello glanced down at her and smiled. He raised his hand and gently wiped away some of the cake from her face.

"It feels good to be back, April. Also, you got a little cake right there..."

"Where-?"

Donatello bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. She could taste the vanilla on his and feel the rush of blood to her cheeks. He pulled away and shyly grinned down at her, flashing the gap in his teeth.

"Ya know, I've always been more of a chocolate or strawberry kind of man myself, but I think I have a preference for vanilla now."

April heavily blushed and smiled. Donatello slung his arm around her and she rested her head against his shoulder, hiding a smile that had grown on her face. She was glad she had slaved over that cake. She made a mental note to herself right then and there that she would definitely make more cakes in the future. But next time, she'd make it chocolate.


End file.
